#TBT: OHIO STATE ALTERNATE UNIFORM HISTORY

Saturday will mark the 19th time since 2009 that Ohio State has donned some version of an alternate uniform, and so far the results have been overwhelmingly successful. The Buckeyes are 14-4 over the past eight seasons in those games, including four wins over Michigan and two against Saturday’s opponent, Penn State. A quick alternate uniform history:

2009:
Ohio State 21, Michigan 10

The Buckeyes’ look honored the 1954 national champions as Ohio State forced five Michigan turnovers and defeated the Wolverines for the sixth consecutive year.

2011:
Ohio State 33, Wisconsin 29

In one of the most memorable games at Ohio Stadium, then-freshman Braxton Miller connected on a 40-yard touchdown to Devin Smith with 20 seconds remaining to help Ohio State upset the eventual Big Ten champion Badgers. The Buckeyes’ uniforms honored the 50-year anniversary of the unbeaten 1961 national championship squad led by Woody Hayes.

2012:
Ohio State 26, Michigan 21

Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes completed a perfect 12-0 season by paying homage to the 1968 national champions with Nike’s rivalry uniform. The Buckeyes held Michigan scoreless in the second half and Carlos Hyde rushed for a game-high 146 yards.

Ohio State donned alternate uniforms for multiple games for the first time in 2013. The rivalry uniform made a return appearances against Wisconsin, Penn State and Clemson while an all-white version with a chrome helmet debuted in a thrilling 42-41 win at Michigan.

On its way to winning first College Football Playoff national championship, the Buckeyes wore a version of an alternate uniform five times. The chrome helmets and Pro Combat uniforms returned for the home opener against Virginia Tech as did the all-whites in an overtime win at Penn State. Fans also saw the Pro Combat uniforms again against Illinois. In the Sugar Bowl against Alabama, Ohio State featured a subtle change with a silver Nike swoosh on both the jersey and pants. The Buckeyes wore the scarlet version of its Sugar Bowl uniforms in the CFP national championship game with also included the CFP emblem on the chest and black numerals on the shoulders.

Against Hawaii and Michigan State, the Buckeyes went back to the look with black numbers on the shoulders. The last time Penn State visited Columbus, Ohio State wore all black for the first time to complement the “Dark Night in the Shoe” theme.

Ohio State celebrated the 100-year anniversary of its first conference championship team with a jersey that featured vertical gray stripes and black matte helmet. The Buckeyes then responded with one of its best all-around performances of the year in a 62-3 win over Nebraska. Three weeks later, Ohio State wore the black matte helmets again in a thrilling 30-27 win over No. 3 Michigan, the first overtime game in the storied history of the rivalry. The Buckeyes wore the same CFP alternates against Clemson as they had two years prior with the silver Nike swoosh on the jersey and pants.